Contractual Disagreement
by Balthanon
Summary: Many people have questioned what kind of mother would allow her son to be taken from her as Nodoka did Ranma- contract or no contract. In this case Genma will make a mistake, the contract will be demoted to nothing more than a slip of paper, and Nodoka's love for her son will be put to the test.
Genma sighed slightly as he looked down on the inoffensive looking piece of paper resting in his hands. Tightening his grip, a small tensing of his powerful muscles tore the useless promise asunder. He had been so sure that the contract to make Ranma a man among men would satisfy Nodoka and allow him to train his boy into the greatest martial artist the world had ever seen, away from his mother's softening influence. He would never know now he thought as the events of the past day flashed through his mind.

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Moving in behind Nodoka as she watched their young son at play, pride and love obvious in her features, Genma placed his arms around her waist. He shifted a bit as she leaned back into his arms while sighing, resting her head under his own as she continued to watch young Ranma.

He briefly thought about how he should approach this particular idea of his. While she had allowed him to take the boy on short training trips before, Nodoka usually demanded to be taken along. One short little trip (the boy was more than ready at two and a half weeks old) and he had gotten an ultimatum-bring her along or no trips. She just didn't understand. Those initial formative weeks were important. Ultimately that trip had likely not been a good idea he supposed. However he had to get the boy away from Nodoka, she couldn't be allowed to ruin Ranma's training, no matter how good her intentions. Thus his current attempt to get her in a good mood.

Nodoka sighed as he placed a kiss upon the nape of her neck and otherwise made his current line of thought obvious.

"Genma, do you really think we should be doing this in front of Ranma," she whispered, nearly purring as she enjoyed the touch of her husband, and the feather light kisses brushing her neck.

Thoughts of trying to convince his wife based on honor and those other notions she held so dear flashed through his mind, but were quickly abandoned for another idea that was much more appealing. Grinning lecherously, he leaned down and whispered in his wife's ear. "Maybe you're right, shall we leave Ranma be and take this to our bedroom, my dear?"

A coy smile gracing her lips, Nodoka turned and placed her arms around her husbands neck. Pushing herself to her toes she supplied an answer to his question with a gentle kiss, then turned away, starting towards the other side of the room where Ranma was punching at invisible opponents.

Laying a hand on his wife's shoulder, Genma shook his head. "Allow me Nodoka." He gently turned her around and pushed her towards their bedroom, his hands lingering a bit as they traced his wife's retreating form. As Nodoka nearly glided into the room they shared Genma turned his attention to the little boy who was responsible for what would likely be a highly enjoyable persuasive effort.

"Ranma, come here, Boy," he called out to pull his son's attention away from what now appeared to be a legion of invisible men.

"Whatcha want, Papa?" Ranma asked after he had succeeded in dispatching all his foes with the new kick that Genma himself had taught him earlier that day. "Are we gonna finger-paint again?"

Genma quickly shushed his son and glanced over to the bedroom door down the hallway. It wouldn't do for Nodoka to hear about his little plan before he had gotten her into the right frame of mind. It never really occurred to him that Ranma finger-painting would seem a perfectly innocent activity to Nodoka.

Having watched the door to their bedroom for awhile now and seeing that his wife hadn't heard, Genma whispered, "Not so loud, m'boy, remember that's supposed to be our little secret for the moment. But no, we aren't going to finger-paint again, it's time for you to practice that technique I showed you awhile ago."

Ranma's face fell, finally settling into a pout as he mumbled something too low for Genma to hear.

"What did you say, Ranma?" asked Genma sternly, though he couldn't quite keep a smile from his lips.

"I said, 'I'm never gonna get that technique, Papa'." The morose child kicked at a toy lying on the floor. "I been practicin' it a whole lot since you got back, but I still don't get it."

"A true martial artist must make many sacrifices for the Art, a gallon of blood, decades of life," lectured Genma. "And you hesitate to spend mere hours of your time for this awesome technique? Oh, my only son, how..."

Ranma hurried to interrupt his father before he could really get into the speech, just as Genma had planned, and spoke up. "Uh no, I wasn't complainin', umm, I was just, umm..."

Genma let the grin he was hiding surface. "Then prepare yourself my son, and perhaps you shall have learnt the technique by the time I return."

At these words Ranma trudged into his room, Genma following him shortly thereafter to see him already sitting before the little pile of odd items he had made into a shrine of sorts. Watching as his son placed the cat ears, composed of some felt and a pair of heavy duty head phones, over his own and started trying to make cat sounds, he chuckled. Nodoka could get just a **tad** loud when they were together, and it probably wouldn't do to have the boy wondering what was going on in his parents bedroom.

This had been his best idea yet, and it was still working since he had thought it up a year ago, although it hadn't been put to heavy use until just a short while ago when he and Tendo had finally freed themselves from the Master. Besides, who knew, maybe when he finally got around to teaching Ranma the real Neko-ken this would help him master it sooner.

Still chuckling from time to time, he left his son playing with the cat toys and headed towards his room. Pausing outside to catch his breath and calm himself, he was extremely surprised when an arm snaked out of the room and quickly pulled him in. The door slid shut as murmuring voices worked their way further into the room.

ooOoo

Awhile later as the couple lay together in their bed Genma turned over and looked at Nodoka with a sly grin on his face. Careful not to rouse her too much he started introducing his idea in a slightly less verbose speech than he had originally intended, almost bluntly actually, since he didn't think she would be listening very closely after the past hour. Unfortunately after a few minutes of nodding dreamily his wife's sleepy eyes suddenly snapped open and she turned to glare at him.

"You want to **what** , Genma dear?" she said ominously.

"Well, you see." Genma stuttered nervously as he looked at his wife's rapidly darkening expression. "The boy can't very well become the martial artist he has the potential to become around the house..." He trailed off as the realization struck him that he had perhaps made a tactical error when implementing his plan.

"And what, pray tell, makes you think you are going to take my little boy away from me, Genma **dear**?" his wife questioned. "I will not let you steal him away just because he can't become the martial artist he can be here. If you really need to take him on a training trip that's fine, but I will be coming along."

"But No-chan..."

"Don't you "No-chan" me," Nodoka said firmly, deftly diverting his hands from where they were about to "revise" his plan. "Did you really think I would give up my son just like that?" Her lower lip began to tremble slightly as she continued. "I don't believe you'd..." Small sniffle. "...think something like that about me." Tears were now beginning to well up at the edges of her eyes.

Panicking slightly Genma immediately thrust the paper he had just been about to show her behind his back again. "There, there, Nodoka I was just joking." He chuckled weakly. "Really, I'm not quite that bad."

He crossed his fingers behind his back as he said that. "I just want what's best for my family, really." He could never quite figure out why it was that his Nodoka's tears could move him like this, or why they seemed to pop up whenever he really wanted something for that matter, but nonetheless that was how it was. He would just have to find some other way of convincing his wife that it really was for the best if he and Ranma went on this little training trip of theirs alone.

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After Nodoka left, Genma had thought upon his plan of action in considerable detail and could find no flaw in his subtle execution of its details. Obviously the contract itself was inherently flawed, which prompted the disposal of it. No point in upsetting Nodoka further.

Dropping the now shredded piece of paper, Genma plopped down in a cross legged sitting position, his elbows resting on his knees and hands supporting his head. Pondering exactly how he might manage to convince Nodoka that the boy and he needed to go on this trip alone. He was so lost in his thoughts he never even noticed the hyper active child come flying at him until he was staring up into his sons face with a slightly dazed look upon his own.

"Papa, are we goin' on 'nother trip soon?" The young child questioned him exuberantly as he bounced up and down on his wheezing father. "Mama said that you wanted to go on a real long one this time," he announced before his face fell slightly. "She said she thought you didn't want her to come though, Papa. Why wouldn't you want Mama to come?"

With a sudden flash of insight, or a lack of oxygen from his son's bouncing, Genma realized that he wasn't going to change Nodoka's mind-while they were still here. He started grinning a bit as a new plan sprung into being and grabbed Ranma as he leapt to his feet.

"Now why wouldn't I want your Mother to come, Ranma m'boy," he said as the smile on his face widened. "Why don't you tell your Mom to start packing for the both of us, we're going to be going on a long trip."

Ranma giggled at the expression of glee on his father's face before he wiggled out of his arms and ran down the hall towards his parents room shouting, "Mama, Mama, Mama!"

Grinning at his ingenious idea and forgetting for the moment how well his last one turned out, Genma adjusted his glasses and went to find that training manual he had found in the Master's things. While said Master was slightly inebriated. It was written in Chinese but that shouldn't hinder him too much since it had nice easy to read maps on the back with big X's over the really good training grounds. He had been planning on going to those locations last but a slight change of plans was now in order.

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A week later, Nodoka paused as they were about to board the ship they were taking to China. Her husband had had some strange idea about swimming across the Sea of Japan until she "gently" reminded him that Ranma was only five. He had sulked for almost the entire day, and she wondered if she had handled that properly. Her mother's advice on proper wifely behavior had been very odd in places, and downright confusing in all the others, and she was never quite sure exactly how it was supposed to be applied. Thus she generally just used the techniques she had been taught as she pleased, when it didn't obviously conflict with her family's honor.

She was always faintly surprised when her "wifely wiles", as her mother was fond of calling them, worked on Genma, as well as a bit guilty. Of course that guilt often went away when she found out exactly what Genma had been planning, but she still felt it all the same. The guilt she was feeling right now wasn't enough to cancel out the joy she felt at being with her husband and son anyway, and she would make sure to make it up to Genma. Possibly a few times. Her skin began to flush as a warm heat washed through her body, so she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand fall on her bottom.

"Hmm, I wonder what it was that brought that blush to your cheeks," Genma teased as he caught the hand which had instinctually swung for him. He swiftly brought it to his mouth and placed a kiss on it, his eyes keeping a steady watch on her other hand.

Nodoka's blush got even brighter before she said, "it was nothing at all, I assure you." Following with a haughty toss of her head. Only the hand which was still lightly held to Genma's lips marred the effect. Well, that and the blush which still stained her cheeks crimson. It was little gestures like this which allowed her to get past the major blunders Genma seemed to make all too often.

"Ahh, I see." Genma smirked. "So it wouldn't be something like this?" He bent slightly and put his mouth to her ear, little whispered comments exactly mirroring what she had been thinking about. Well maybe not that one, or that one, oh that one sounded good...

"Umm, well, possibly, you see..." Flustered she settled for a dignified retreat and turned to Ranma, carefully looking him over while ignoring the blush still on her cheeks. "Are you ready, Ranma? This will be your first time on a boat," she said. "So you need to be careful with your balance."

Ranma smiled brightly and chirped, "I can do it, Mama, me and Papa practice balance all 'a time. Wanna see?" Without waiting for an answer the young boy ran over to Genma and before he could react climbed up to his shoulders. Then screwing up his face in concentration he proceeded to climb up his father's head and stand in place-on only one leg.

Nodoka looked at her sweating husband intently for a few seconds then turned her attention back to her beaming child. "That is...very good, Ranma, how often did you say you do this?" To tell the truth she wasn't too surprised, she had seen little feats like this during the entire hike to Kyoto.

Genma quickly reached up and grabbed his son off of his head and started running into the ship's interior while calling over his shoulder. "No time for that now, No-chan, we have to get settled in." Finishing his save he tucked a delighted Ranma under one arm and quickly made for the interior of the ship, the young child laughing the entire time.

Nodoka kept up her scowl until right after Genma turned a corner and could no longer see her. A secretive smile gracing her mouth, she walked up the ramp and started for the room at a slightly more sedate pace. She couldn't really let Genma see that she approved of his training methods, that way they would probably stay at their current level, remaining challenging without being likely to leave life long scars. She hoped.

Her mother had made sure she understood that a good way to keep a husband, or child for that matter, in line was to make sure you showed your disapproval-before you actually disapproved. Thus she had made it a practice to occasionally make some type of remark which could be construed as slightly threatening in regards to Genma's training methods. She smiled brightly as she thought of the perfect method to show that illusionary disapproval to Genma the following day-after she had thanked him properly.

As she thought about Genma's training methods she wondered if he had actually been serious about having her train. Admittedly it was a bit boring to just sit at the camp while her husband and son practiced, but she had never before thought to go along with them. When presented with the choice of participating in some of Ranma's exercises and helping his training along, and thus first being trained in at least the basics, or staying at home though it hadn't been a difficult decision.

She had always had something of a fascination for martial arts and had even managed to sneak in a few lessons from time to time. However her mother had disapproved of that passion rather strongly and they had been few and far between at best. Genma's occupation had been a large part of why she initially started seeing him. Plus, he came from a good family so her parents hadn't disapproved completely, even if they didn't like him personally.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she spotted the open door that marked the cabin they had been assigned to, light sounds of mayhem passing through the portal. Nodoka smiled then pasted a stern expression upon her face as she walked into the room, the former expression soon returning and staying in place for the remainder of the day-and the night.

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A sudden weight coming down on his stomach caused Genma to wake with a startled grunt, the wind forced from his lungs as said weight started fidgeting. Opening a single bleary eye, his sight quickly focused on the little boy who was very nearly dancing on his stomach. "Just what do you think you're doing, Boy?" Part of him was amused by the tussle haired child now sitting on his stomach and another part, the one which wanted to sleep, just a bit annoyed.

A slightly apprehensive Ranma smiled with what he obviously thought was an innocent expression and replied, "Mama said I should get you up, an' I tried and tried but you wouldn't open your eyes." Genma's eyes were drawn towards Ranma's side, where a small hand was peeking out from behind his son's back, fingers crossed. Ranma smiled brightly and said, "but Mama said I had to get you up."

Genma sighed and wondered how Ranma had slipped past Nodoka. His son, while loved, usually wasn't to go near a sleeping Genma. This was primarily due to the fact that since Ranma had been trained in one of the primary tenets of the Saotome school, namely jumping, he had taken to greeting his father with said skill. Genma smiled wryly, all told it wasn't quite as pleasant as the kiss he had expected to be woken with would have been.

Genma yawned, then sat up stretching, absent mindedly catching his son as he tumbled off of his stomach. "Where is your mother anyway?"

Ranma's forehead wrinkled a little bit before he offered a tentative answer. "Outside?" A quick glance toward the door on his part did little to augment the obviously unsure response.

"You need to work on your fibbing, Boy. That just isn't going to cut it if your mother catches you at it."

Genma shook his head and hefted the boy over his shoulder, walking past Nodoka in the bathroom which had joined the two rooms they purchased. He made sure to ignore the less than ladylike language coming from his wife as she attempted to account for the ship's sway while she put up her hair. Past experience taught him that pointing it out wasn't going to gain him anything.

Reaching the door to the cabin, Genma turned and examined the ship a bit more closely. Wooden decking, only slightly slippery, was passed over, as was the narrow railings and the semi-choppy sea beyond it. He finally settled on the rigging which climbed the mast, walking toward it with a sure stride only a sailor or martial artist could have matched.

Genma's thoughts as he instructed his son wandered, but as usual of late tended to focus upon Nodoka. The past few weeks since the Master, may he rest in peace, had been...disposed of...had seemed like Heaven. Nothing would stop Ranma from being the best though, even his own weakness. He had to get his son away from Nodoka before she softened him. Mind you, the boy did seem more enthusiastic when he could show off what he learned to his mother, but he was sure that was just a stage he was going through.

Genma turned his attention back to Ranma as he reached the top of the mast, grinning to himself at the skill the boy showed this early. "Now get down from there, Boy! I don't want you taking it easy looking around the ship!" Absently noting his son beginning the trip down, he returned to his musings, trying to think through the entire problem at hand.

He had been sure that Nodoka would have balked just at going to China actually, his plan just wasn't quite coming along as fast as it might. After a few weeks of actual training, his wife would probably just give up and go home, she just wasn't meant for this type of trip. Besides, this was the Master's training route, and if that wasn't enough to drive her off then nothing ever would be. Why she'd probably break at the first ravenous horde of deadly harpies, the ones disguised as average women until the Master revealed them.

"Genma?" called Nodoka behind him. "What are you doing over there? I've been looking for you for fifteen minutes."

A few thoughts of Nodoka's icy visage yesterday when Ranma was showing off passed through his head when her words registered. He very carefully did not look up while he turned around to face his wife, a nervous smile plastered across his face.

"Hello, No-chan. Nice morning, isn't it? I was just admiring it, yes, that's it. Admiring the scenery. Beautiful." He took a deep breath to emphasize his point and abruptly lapsed into a coughing fit, the tar, sweat, and brine combining into a rather unsavory, almost deadly, mix of fumes.

Nodoka wore an amused smile, vaguely seen through tear filled eyes, as she said, "Isn't the middle of the boat a rather odd place to be 'observing the scenery', Dear?"

Genma smiled weakly and began to wrack his mind for an excuse, however a cry of "Banzai!" from somewhere up above provided just the distraction he needed. Or perhaps didn't need. The question was really moot to tell the truth, as Ranma landing lightly and rolling across the deck until he stopped near Nodoka's feet was about as not needed as it was possible to get.

Somehow he didn't think that he'd be getting out of this one quite as easily as he had last night's.

ooOoo

It was a couple of days later that the ship finally set anchor in a small harbor, somewhere in southern Korea. Genma had originally chosen the spot as the closest point between the mainland and Japan, and it primarily remained as their destination because he didn't want to alter the plans he had made for traveling.

Glancing around the cabin one last time, his wife's insistent voice hurried him along and he was soon ready, grabbing the packs that he was insisting each of them wear, his wife included.

Muttering slightly, though not too loud as Nodoka had just finally allowed him back into her bed the previous night, he began careful planning as he walked over to the plank and down to the dock. Ideas for training at the various grounds, and how he could work Nodoka into them, passed through his mind one after another even as he set the packs down.

His wife's voice easily jolted him out of his ramblings when his family had assembled next to him. "What was that, Dear? I thought I heard you mention my name...?"

"Nothing, Nodoka, just thinking about all of our training," he answered her question in a careful tone, trying not to chuckle as he thought of his sweet little wife as she asked him in a pleading voice to take her home. Falling into his arms in a swoon as he...

"Are you alright, Genma?" Nodoka asked in a sugary sweet voice. "You seem somewhat out of it, and that giggling..."

"I DO NOT GIGGLE!" Genma yelled indignantly.

"...was getting a little distracting," Nodoka continued, ignoring her husband's protests. "By the way, is this mine?" She hefted the heavier of the two packs he had brought out, not exactly with ease, but not nearly as much trouble as she should have.

"Eh, no, umm, that one's mine," mumbled Genma as a single drop of sweat trailed down his back. His shoulders slumped slightly as he grabbed the pack from Nodoka and turned to get Ranma ready. Thus he didn't see the silent sigh of relief or the furious rubbing motions his wife made as she tried to get feeling back in her arms from the short time spent holding the enormously heavy pack. Turning back to his wife, he noticed she already had her pack on her back and so he gestured to his family beginning their trek into the deepest wilds of China.

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Ranma looked up at his father as they walked down the road, he would normally be jumping around but the weights his father was making him wear were a bit too heavy for that. He thought for a little while on how unfair that was and upon finishing his musing returned his attention to his father.

"...and so that is what you shall do, Ranma." Genma finished with a flourish. "So get to it."

Ranma stared at his father then concentrated and tried to remember what he had just said, even if he hadn't been listening at the time. "Umm, I'm s'posed to...umm..." His voice trailed off and he assumed his very best innocent expression as he tried to think of a way to say that he hadn't listened at all.

After a few minutes, his fathers voice rang out from beside him. "Boy, are you or are you not going to help me start your mother's training now?"

Ranma jumped and smiled brightly. "Hai! I was just going to, umm, how was I s'posed to do it?" he asked with his best puppy dog eyes. It didn't work too often on his father but every once in awhile he wouldn't get quite so mad, and on his mom it worked almost every time.

Genma grinned as he looked down at Ranma. "Well, think back to when I first started training you, m'boy. What was the first thing you learned to do?"

"Play keep away with the people selling food?"

Genma glanced over at Nodoka, chuckled weakly at her frosty glare and said, "of course not, boy. You learned to fall first, just as any martial artist does." Ranma giggled at his father's pale face while Genma continued, "at any rate both your mother's and your training can be put off till tomorrow, this is the first stop we'll make. We're out of the city now so we can make camp early and get used to the wilderness, something we'll be in for a long, long, long, long..."

Nodoka glared at Genma and said, "I believe we get it, Genma dear," in a somewhat less than cordial tone.

"Ahem." Genma cleared his throat, looking towards the sky. "Yes, well, it will be a long time anyway. So we might as well get used to it." Avoiding Nodoka's gaze he moved away from Ranma and started setting up camp.

Ranma was still giggling as he let the heavy pack he was carrying pull him to the ground. His giggles subsided as he rolled over and watched his mother and father argue while working to set up the tent together. Stuffing a small fist into his mouth to stifle a yawn he wondered if he should help, he had been going on these trips since before he could remember (admittedly not that long ago) and what he had to do varied with each one. He wasn't sure what was different about this one, although the people sounded funny after the boat trip and he couldn't understand them anymore.

ooOoo

Ranma started as a hand touched his shoulder, yawning as he opened his eyes to see his mom crouching down beside him. "Do I need to help now?" he questioned sleepily, trying to stand up before his mother motioned for him to stay where he was.

"No, you stay where you are," she whispered, "I just wanted to make sure that you weren't hungry or anything before we went to sleep."

Ranma looked at her with a slightly confused expression on his face then looked past her and noticed the tent walls for the first time. Looking around a bit more he noticed his father snoring in one corner of the tent, a blanket covering him and a small lantern resting beside his slumbering body. "It's already night, Mama? I wanted to go explore." Grabbing the hem of his mother's dress he asked, "can I go explore, Mama? I'll be real careful."

"It's a bit late for that, Ranma-chan," Nodoka said with a smile, "you can go exploring in the morning before we leave." A sudden growl from Ranma's stomach caused her to smile down at him and continue in the same motherly tone. "Plus, it looks like you need to get some food into that little tummy of yours, you worked very hard today."

Forgetting his desire to go explore, Ranma took the sandwich his mother handed him and quickly ate it before holding out a hand imperiously for another. His mother smiled a bit, glancing over towards Genma before giving him the second one she had prepared.

This time when he held out a hand she just grabbed it and tucked it down under the blanket which covered his shoulders and body. "You can have more tomorrow, before you go exploring and start training," she explained as he pouted. With that she finished up and after giving him a kiss on the forehead turned and headed over towards Genma, blowing out the light and laying down beside him.

Ranma laid on his back for awhile before turning and looking at the black area where he could hear his dad snoring. He listened for a little bit then when he thought he heard two breaths very carefully got up, taking his blanket with him. Walking as softly as he knew how he crept over towards the sounds, freezing when he kicked something or made some other noise. Finally making it over he carefully laid out his blanket next to his Mom and curled up in it. So intent was he on making no noise that when his mother's arm reached out of the pile of blankets and pulled him up against its owner, he almost yelled out before stifling the impulse.

"Good night, my little colt," Nodoka whispered as Ranma snuggled up against her and finally with a soft sigh fell into the land of dreams.

ooOoo

The following morning Ranma awoke to find Genma standing over him, a small fan in one hand and the other with a single finger out and centered over his head. Sitting up and yawning he looked at his father in confusion, the purpose behind the large man's actions escaping his five year old brain for the moment. Finally he gave up and just asked, "whatcha doin', Papa?" while he rubbed a sore spot on the back of his head.

Genma tossed the fan behind him and assumed a cross legged sitting position beside his son. "Son, I have decided to start your reflex training on this trip."

"Reflex trainin'? But I already got good reflexes you said so yourself," Ranma proclaimed with obvious pride. "How come I need more?"

In a firm tone of voice, Genma admonished, "Ranma, you can always use more training, no matter how far along you are in your studies. It's always possible to improve, to learn new things that are different from what you know. A man can never learn everything there is to know, and at any moment, victory could be snatched from your feet just because you decided..."

Ranma tilted his head down so his eyes weren't visible as he looked around the tent for something more interesting than the speech Genma was giving. A light blow to the back of his head returned his attention to his father a few minutes later.

"Pay attention, boy!" Genma frowned, then looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes. "Now where was I?"

Ranma took the chance to ask his father about something he had noticed earlier and hopefully distract him. "Is that why Mama is going to train with us this time?"

"Err, yes, why that's exactly right, my boy," Genma assured his son. "So what have you noticed about your mother's training?"

"Mama is carrying a pack just like me now! She ain't never never done that before this, she usually just cooks." Ranma paused for a moment to think about his mother's cooking, rubbing his stomach in anticipation. Genma's thoughts obviously ran in the same direction as his eyes glazed over and he started salivating. Ranma waited patiently then when his father snapped out of it asked, "can we eat now? Mama said when I woke up, I could have some more to eat."

Genma visibly hesitated, then with a firm shake of his head motioned for Ranma to sit beside him. "Not just yet, my boy, first I need to see if my work while you were asleep paid off at all."

Ranma walked over and sat beside his father, then turned and faced the tent wall as he was instructed. "Are we done yet?" Ranma asked when he was fully situated as his dad had told him.

"No, boy, now be quiet for a second and just concentrate."

After several minutes Ranma suddenly jerked his head to the side, unsure of exactly why he did so but sure it was a good idea. A split second later his dad's open hand shot through the air where his head had been a second ago, the breeze stirring the young boy's hair. Ranma turned and gaped at the fist beside him then turned to his dad with an amazed look on his face. "How'd I do that, Papa? I dodged your punch without even seein' it."

Laughing triumphantly, Genma pulled Ranma to his feet and answered, "I'll tell you later, son, lets go eat now."

Taking Genma's hand in his, Ranma walked out of the tent to where Nodoka was waiting for them, pulling his father behind him. Ranma pulled his hand out of Genma's soon after he saw his mother and ran over to explain how he had eyes in the back of his head now.

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Nodoka sighed a bit and rubbed her bottom with a slightly cross expression on her face. For all that she had liked watching the martial arts, she found that under Genma's tutelage none of the little she had assumed she knew was quite right, especially her ability to fall. He had Ranma helping her with that aspect, and all her mother's techniques seemed to be powerless when he was in "Sensei" mode. A title which she had never had reason to call him before, outside of those times he had come home slightly depressed after training with Happosai and she wanted to cheer him up.

Admittedly, it was possible that her focus on the young men in the few classes she peeped on rather than the wrinkled old prunes that were teaching them might have contributed to this lack of knowledge.

A frightened yelp escaped her mouth as Ranma yelled out from right behind her, "BOO!" and then started giggling.

Nodoka glared down at her son from the branch she was holding onto and said, "Just you wait, young man, I think you're having entirely too much fun with this."

Gulping a bit as she looked down, it occurred to her that at the least, the extended sessions of hopping down the road her husband was putting her through were working. She smiled down at her son to let him know she wasn't really mad, then let go and dropped to the ground. This time she only rolled three times before coming to a stop. She still had no idea how her husband and son managed to land from the heights they could reach without even needing to hop a little.

Genma walked over and she quickly ran up to him and gave him a quick kiss, something that did still work, before she ran over to their camp to start dinner. They had been traveling off and on for nearly two weeks now, stopping at various temples and camp grounds on the way out of more settled territory into what could actually be deemed wilderness. Nodoka's own "training" had primarily included carrying her heavy pack, "attacks" by her son at inopportune times, and more extreme versions of cardio workouts that she saw on television commercials.

While it wasn't something she would consider fun, she thought she could put up with it. She doubted her husband would really waste too much of his time on her. It might even end up a little enjoyable- particularly if she was able to interact with her son at his "play" more often. Even if all it did right now was leave her with a sore...body...most of the time, she thought ruefully while rubbing the part of her that was currently aching.

She took advantage of a break in the preparation of the stew she was currently making to look at her small family. Ranma and Genma were currently sparring, and the sight of her husband passing on his wisdom to their son almost made her wish she could do the same. However she didn't think that Genma would appreciate his son learning how to catch boys and cook. Well he probably wouldn't mind the cooking. Genma never turned away from anything that filled his stomach.

Nodoka smiled at the last thought, then called out, "Genma! Ranma! Go wash up for dinner!" Stirring the pot one last time, she took it off the heat to cool a little, then headed towards the river they were camped near. Genma had mentioned that it came from the snowmelt in the mountains of the Bayankala range, so she had little desire to bathe in it...but there were other things she could do.

As the trees started thinning out, Nodoka slowly hitched her kimono up, then knelt, wiggling into the bushes and heading towards the sounds of splashing she heard. As the ground got more damp, she worked her way north of the noises, finally reaching the river just to the north of her family. As she moved from her hands and knees into a kneeling position, she licked her lips and tentatively moved aside a few of the branches to give herself a clear view of the river.

She frowned at the pastoral scene she looked upon on finishing her preparations. An absolutely beautiful stream trickled through lush, emerald green foliage, dotted with magnificent flowers and the occassional jutting tree branch. The scenery would have been gorgeous quite frankly, but it was missing something...like her husband.

Still, he was probably just a bit further down than she had though- the splashing had continued apace and there was a tree that blocked part of the river that way. She would just need to move a little closer to the edge of the overhang she had found...

Leaning out, she finally caught sight of some of the splashing water and found herself licking her lips. This was, after all, nearly how she had met Genma all those years ago and it was titillating to be doing the same herself. She could bathe with her husband whenever she wished, but seeing him illicitly- well, there was a certain thrill to it.

It was as she was very nearly at her limit that she felt a light swat on the sore bottom her son's antics had left her with earlier in the day. The abrupt sting and the presence of someone behind her caused her to yelp and flinch-forward, unfortunately, which resulted in a tumble off the ledge and into the frigid waters below. She barely had the presence of mind to let herself go limp and use one hand to try and turn herself so she landed on her feet.

In truth, she would have been rather proud of herself for the little she was able to do if the current hadn't promptly swept her legs out from under her and left her on her butt once again. Bedraggled, soaked, and more than annoyed, she glared up at her smirking husband.

"Lesson one- complete," he said, his voice sounding as amused as his expression. "Congratulations, Nodoka. You have internalized the falling lessons that the boy and I have provided for the past week."

This would have made her more proud (and hopeful that she was done with the random trips, falls, and scares) if she hadn't been shivering hard enough to rattle her teeth. However, the cold wasn't enough to prevent a sinking feeling as she prepared herself to stand again and her husband tsked, interupting her motion.

"No, no, No-chan, you should stay there for a bit. The cold will help your muscles recover from the past few days. I'll be back to help you out just as soon as I'm done washing the boy- no more than a few minutes I'm sure." His grin widened, and he added, "This too is part of training."

Crossing her arms and glaring down river as her husband walked through the brush, she shivered again and finally began to wonder what exactly she had gotten herself into by accepting this crazy proposal of his.


End file.
